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“I’m so sorry.” My omega got up and came over, sat in my lap, and wrapped his arms around my neck. “How long ago?”
“Five years. It was right before I met Clint.”
Huh. I never realized that choosing Clint might’ve been because I was in a bad place. He had showered me with gifts and affection in the beginning, though we spent most of our time in the bedroom.
Strange the way I discovered things about myself at the most precarious times.
“You were vulnerable. He took advantage of that.”
I made a grunting sound. He was right. I reveled in holding Antoine in my arms, letting some of the pain go. He nuzzled my neck, making my bear rumble low and slow.
“How about you strip for me, and I can paint you tonight.”
“But we have cake,” I countered.
“Cake can wait, alpha. I want you naked.”
‘Yeah. Sure,” I agreed but as he got off my lap, I couldn’t help but feel that once again, I might’ve stepped into a relationship with someone who only wanted me for my body.
Gods, I hoped not because I was head over heels in love with Antoine.
Would he leave me once this commission was over?
Was this part of his process? Sleeping with me and dating me? Was that part of this process for making the art feel real?
A thousand ifs ran through my mind as I took off my clothes, but I knew I had to complete this.
My future depended on it.
Chapter Fifteen
Antoine
The painting took longer than expected because I had to paint not only West but his bear. It was an entirely new experience and one I didn’t expect to share with another model. Since I could feel the bear and almost see him in human form, that was what I wanted to share with anyone who came to the gallery and whoever eventually bought it.
And wasn’t that the problem. As the polar bear reared up in my dining room and I added the shadow form I envisioned, I realized that this work would never be able to be sold. It was too intimate to part with. I did not have time to paint a second canvas before the showing, but I could do something I’d never seen before. The work would go to the gallery, but it would be marked artist’s private collection; not for sale. Of course, that sort of notice only made something more desirable, and I would have to let the gallery know that no amount of money would change my decision.
The bear was magnificent, looming over the chair my alpha had posed on, as gorgeous in his way as West was in his. I used all the whites and grays and even reds and browns to bring in all the hues I picked up in his fur, painting the individual hairs then blurring them to create the effect I actually saw.
Hours later, exhausted, I slumped into a chair. “You can shift back anytime. I got what I need, and the rest I can do on my own.”
But instead of the shift I expected, the bear dropped on all fours and padded over to me. Liquid eyes looked at me, wanting something… It couldn’t be food. Animals generally hunted if they wanted something, although maybe a bear would like some honey or something?
“Are you hungry?”
He bumped me with his nose, but I didn’t think that was a yes.
“What do you want?”
Run with mate.
That was not the bear but my fox. “Oh. Of course.” The bear was out but had been standing around all this time, and of course he wanted to run. My exhaustion lifted at the idea of it, and I was gladder than ever not to live in the middle of town. Behind my house were acres of woods where we could let our animals out and play.
Energized, I led the way out into the backyard then stripped down and shifted. I’d almost done it inside then remembered my fox wasn’t great at opening doors and the bear would probably have to just knock it down.
I held still while the bear circled us, sniffing and rumbling and nuzzling. When he’d finished, I darted out of the yard and toward the trees, followed by the polar bear. I had never run into a human back here, but wouldn’t they be surprised to see the big white animal running along the pathways.
Most would think he was faster than me, but a fox, or at least this fox, could run and maintain a higher rate than any bear I’d ever heard of. But it was close enough that we could race side by side and have a great time. The animals were thrilled to be together, and their joy spilled over until, when we got back to the house and shifted back, we fell into one another’s arms, laughing.
